Too girly.
I dunno - I think the flat tan makes it somewhat tactical and uni-sex.
Also - someone made a Hello Kitty chain saw:
3 Likes
Yeah, thatâs my inspiration. But I want to do up a Stihl instead of some half-ton antique!
1 Like
A small male would not necessarily have greater upper-body strength than an average-sized woman.
Again, youâre overemphasizing sex-based differences that can be abstracted into a more efficient product thatâs not only âfor womenâ. What if youâre discussing the elderly? The more inclusive you get in the product design, the better. Not just for the obvious âbattle of the sexesâ but the more sales and scale of industry behind the product, the better itâs going to be tested and work. The product is probably not as niche as you believe it to be.
3 Likes
Iâm thinking that I, as a man, would also appreciate heavy products that can be levered rather than, ha ha only serious, man-handled.
3 Likes
My words may have been kludgy, but you picked an extreme example. Makeup is far less so. You have to wear that stuff not to melt under studio lighting. And Iâd hope that a monster truck rally show or anything in that vein does attempt to appeal to my machismo- when an ad specifically targets broad gender concepts, itâs usually not that smart. And I sure donât want my monster trucks to be smart. I want them to be big, loud, and ugly. You canât yell âFUCK YOU, BUY NAIL POLISHâ at me or any other guy unless the nail polish is applied shoving your hands in the stuff, punching most of it off as it dries, and using a belt sander to get the edges right.
An offbeat product needs offbeat advertising, sure. But you canât target a stereotype audience and then tell them they want something completely the opposite of that stereotype. I read through the ad, and I was willing to meet them halfway on the âsure I am your target audience, tell me moreâ bit. They have to sell the idea to me, and since itâs already dealing in stereotypes, âalpha maleâ doesnât cross with other archetypes that might wear nail polish.
1 Like
Tools and machinery, in particular, have been overwhelmingly gender-bent in their design as I specifically referenced.
One of the best all-time designs is the common spoon. So simple, so direct and designed to serve all humans in general, that just about all that is left is to play around with materials and decorations. But many elderly people cannot handle them. And theyâre pretty useless to people without hands, for that matter. Typically, thereâs only so much any given design will offer. Nice sentiment, but often lacking in practicability.
Simply designing better for smaller, less-muscular adults would cover a whole lot of it, right off the top. I see things every day that are caused by the sheer assumption that all humans are alike - the way the doors on my building are adjusted - older, weaker people struggle with them. The number of places that place the handicap parking at distance from the door and fail to place any barriers to prevent drivers from blocking people inside, or worse, outside, their vans. Iâve even seen a building that houses the hearings offices for Social Security Disability in Atlanta, which has parking available only at the bottom of a steep hill! The only answer for that sort of thing is outspoken advocacy - because humans will always, always operate a certain amount of egocentric behavior, even if their intentions are generally good.
2 Likes
A little off-topic:
Like a lot of offices that also have technical equipment, we have a bunch of tools for odd jobs. Whereas in other jobs, tools wandering is not that unusual, but in my current office, all the tools get returned. Theyâre all pastel pink, from the same set. Theyâre pretty standard tools, mid to low end quality but functional, and apparently our gender identities make them theft-proof.
2 Likes
That is the opposite of a thing that makes sense.
1 Like
Meh. Iâm a male who finds the concept of nailpolish baffling altogether. I donât think it makes nails look any better, and honestly, the only practical reason I can think of to wear it is to cover something up, like a nailbed bruise or infectionâŚ
When I was a little kid, my folks tried to break me of my nailbiting habit (unsuccessfully) by making me wear really nasty tasting clearcoat on my nails. I didnât mind it, and it wasnât actually clear, and the habit was bad enough that I just kept chewing my nails till I didnât even notice the bitterant anymore.
Nailpolish also doesnât appeal to me because it make you have to be careful with your hands and nails if you donât want to chip it, or wear it off. It comes across as a self-hobbling act, and thatâs very unattractive to me, personally.
Thereâs also the fact that tools pretty much look the same. For example, the average hammer has either a plain wooden handle, or a polished metal handle with a black rubber grippy sleeve, and these two choices are so standardized that it would be obvious than anyone whoâs squirreled away the pink hammer has probably filched it from the community toolbox. Not wanting to be caught in general may be as much motivation as not wanting to be caught with a tool that goes against gender stereotypes.
1 Like
Screen size was the deciding factor in my last cellphone purchase. The phone that would otherwise have been my first choice was too wide to fit comfortably in my hand.
Thread over.
This is getting quite off-topic, but FWIW there is a type of nail polish called âgelâ that dries in five minutes (under UV light) and cannot be removed or chipped by anything short of a belt-sander. To remove it you soak your hands in acetone for about an hour. I had it once, didnât want to do the acetone thing, and ended up having it literally grow out - itâs that tough. Wonât do that again, but then Iâve only worn nail polish about five times in my life. Itâs not just men that see no good reason for it.
1 Like
Why? If itâs too costly to produce multiple colors, many of which wonât sell enough to recoup the costs of production, itâs easier for them to market a pink version âfor womenâ and profit. Itâs called Marketing 101, and itâs how people are convinced to buy such products. If you donât like the inherent stereotyping of women and pink (or whatever other stereotypical âfor womenâ change they make to distinguish the product from the âfor menâ version), just stop buying it. Voting with your pocketbook (wallet?) is the best way to change what products get made and sold.
It just occurred to me that things being designed for right-handers has actually been much more of an issue for me to contend with in life than the fact that Iâm a smallish woman in a world of man-made objects.
Speaking of bikes: standard procedure is for the hand brakes to be set up so that the right-hand one goes to the back wheel rather than the front one. That way, when you squeeze just that little bit harder with your stronger hand, you wonât flip yourself over the handlebars. Except if youâre a leftie.
YeahâŚthings like that.
2 Likes
But if women donât buy the pink version, the take-home will be: oh, women just donât like tools. Not: women donât like pink tools. After all, any woman who buys black tools instead of pink ones must be buying them for her husband or boyfriend, right?
3 Likes
The first time that happened to me was a surprise, now Iâm never without my pink camo weaponry.
1 Like
What do you mean? Fluttershy is very soft spoken, and the Honey Badger in a subsonic .300 Blackout with a suppressor is soft spoken as well.
Bikes are kinda on the fence here.
